Article Index | "Antibiotic Resistance: Questions and Answers" | Article Index |
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ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
By: Jeffrey T. LeJeune, D.V.M., Ph.D. |
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What Are Antibiotics
What Is Antibiotic Resistance (AR)?
Why Is AR a Problem?
Where Do AR Organisms Come From? Some bacteria are naturally resistant to certain antibiotics simply because they lack the specific target for the antibiotic. Other bacteria can accquire resistance to antibiotics as a result of sporadic mutations that change their targets so they are not recognized by the antibiotic. A third way that bacteria may become resistant to antibiotics is through the acquisition of DNA that codes for antibiotic resistance. An example of this last type of antibiotic resistance is the acquisition of DNA that codes for a protein that actually degrades or breaks down the antibiotic (such as penicillin), so it cannot act on its target site. In general, resistance among bacteria is specific for a particular class of antibiotics. For example, the mechanisms that provide resistance to one antibiotic do not necessarily confer resistance to all antibiotics. Sometimes, however, one mechanism of resistance may be effective for multiple different antibiotics or chemicals. For instance, one of the mechanisms that confers resistance to tetracycline is actually a pump to rid the bacteria of heavy metals. It just so happens that it gets rid of tetracycline, too. Importantly, bacteria can acquire and maintain the mechanisms to exhibit resistant to multiple different antibiotics. This is called multi-drug resistance.
How Does Agriculture Contribute to AR? Undisputedly, it has been demonstrated that the use of antibiotics in animals can at least transiently increase the number of antibiotic-resistant organisms being subsequently detected in that group of animals. What is not known, however, is the overall contribution these changes in the bacterial population have on total environmental or foodborne contamination with AR organisms. Strict withholding periods are required before animals treated with antibiotics are allowed to be sent for slaughter and to enter the food chain. Other, possibly more significant human exposure sources to AR organisms cannot be ignored. These include domestic sewage, hospital sewage, and naturally occurring environmental reservoirs of AR organisms.
What Is Being Done to Control AR? First, surveillance programs, such as the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), provide valuable information about the prevalence and recent changes in the prevalence of AR bacteria. There is much that is not known about the emergence and dissemination of AR in animals, people, and the environment. Second, increasing our knowledge of the epidemiology of these organisms will provide the information needed to make sound, scientifically justified recommendations for the control AR bacteria. Finally, the role of education among health-care professionals, farmers, and the public is considered essential. Education has focused on methods to control the spread of AR organisms, such as the development of Prudent Antibiotic Use Guidelines for physicians, veterinarians, and farmers. Together, these three components can be assimilated to provide scientific justification for any policy recommendations for methods to control AR. As research continues and our knowledge base increases, it is expected that more specific recommendations to control AR will be forthcoming.
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